Mathematical Theory of Oil and Gas Recovery


Book Description

It is a pleasure to be asked to write the foreword to this interesting new book. When Professor Bedrikovetsky first accepted my invitation to spend an extended sabbatical period in the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, I hoped it would be a period of fruitful collaboration. This book, a short course and a variety of technical papers are tangible evidence of a successful stay in the UK. I am also pleased that Professor Bedrikovetsky acted on my suggestion to publish this book with Kluwer as part of the petroleum publications for which I am Series Editor. The book derives much of its origin from the unpublished Doctor of Science thesis which Professor Bedrikovetsky prepared in Russian while at the Gubkin Institute. The original DSc contained a number of discrete publications unified by an analytical mathematics approach to fluid flow in petroleum reservoirs. During his sabbatical stay at Imperial College, Professor Bedrikovetsky has refined and extended many of the chapters and has discussed each one with internationally recognised experts in the field. He received great encouragement and editorial advice from Dr Gren Rowan, who pioneered analytical methods in reservoir modelling at BP for many years.




Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow


Book Description

Scientific understanding of fluid flow in rock fractures--a process underlying contemporary earth science problems from the search for petroleum to the controversy over nuclear waste storage--has grown significantly in the past 20 years. This volume presents a comprehensive report on the state of the field, with an interdisciplinary viewpoint, case studies of fracture sites, illustrations, conclusions, and research recommendations. The book addresses these questions: How can fractures that are significant hydraulic conductors be identified, located, and characterized? How do flow and transport occur in fracture systems? How can changes in fracture systems be predicted and controlled? Among other topics, the committee provides a geomechanical understanding of fracture formation, reviews methods for detecting subsurface fractures, and looks at the use of hydraulic and tracer tests to investigate fluid flow. The volume examines the state of conceptual and mathematical modeling, and it provides a useful framework for understanding the complexity of fracture changes that occur during fluid pumping and other engineering practices. With a practical and multidisciplinary outlook, this volume will be welcomed by geologists, petroleum geologists, geoengineers, geophysicists, hydrologists, researchers, educators and students in these fields, and public officials involved in geological projects.




Unconventional Reservoir Geomechanics


Book Description

A comprehensive overview of the key geologic, geomechanical and engineering principles that govern the development of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Covering hydrocarbon-bearing formations, horizontal drilling, reservoir seismology and environmental impacts, this is an invaluable resource for geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers.




The Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method


Book Description

The combined finite discrete element method is a relatively new computational tool aimed at problems involving static and / or dynamic behaviour of systems involving a large number of solid deformable bodies. Such problems include fragmentation using explosives (e.g rock blasting), impacts, demolition (collapsing buildings), blast loads, digging and loading processes, and powder technology. The combined finite-discrete element method - a natural extension of both discrete and finite element methods - allows researchers to model problems involving the deformability of either one solid body, a large number of bodies, or a solid body which fragments (e.g. in rock blasting applications a more or less intact rock mass is transformed into a pile of solid rock fragments of different sizes, which interact with each other). The topic is gaining in importance, and is at the forefront of some of the current efforts in computational modeling of the failure of solids. * Accompanying source codes plus input and output files available on the Internet * Important applications such as mining engineering, rock blasting and petroleum engineering * Includes practical examples of applications areas Essential reading for postgraduates, researchers and software engineers working in mechanical engineering.







Petroleum Abstracts


Book Description




Sand Control in Well Construction and Operation


Book Description

Produced sand causes a lot of problems. From that reasons sand production must be monitored and kept within acceptable limits. Sand control problems in wells result from improper completion techniques or changes in reservoir properties. The idea is to provide support to the formation to prevent movement under stresses resulting from fluid flow from reservoir to well bore. That means that sand control often result with reduced well production. Control of sand production is achieved by: reducing drag forces (the cheapest and most effective method), mechanical sand bridging (screens, gravel packs) and increasing of formation strength (chemical consolidation). For open hole completions or with un-cemented slotted liners/screens sand failure will occur and must be predicted. Main problem is plugging. To combat well failures due to plugging and sand breakthrough Water-Packing or Shunt-Packing are used.







The Variational Approach to Fracture


Book Description

Presenting original results from both theoretical and numerical viewpoints, this text offers a detailed discussion of the variational approach to brittle fracture. This approach views crack growth as the result of a competition between bulk and surface energy, treating crack evolution from its initiation all the way to the failure of a sample. The authors model crack initiation, crack path, and crack extension for arbitrary geometries and loads.